Psychometric properties of the California Critical Thinking Tests.

The evaluation of critical thinking, as with any other measure, must employ instruments that meet appropriate psychometric standards. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to investigate the psychometric properties of the two California Critical Thinking Tests. Two samples of undergraduate students enrolled in a southern comprehensive university took the California Critical Thinking Skills Test (TST) and the California Critical Thinking Dispositions Inventory (TDI). A portion of the participants, who were nursing students, were retested on the TST and TDI two weeks after the initial testing. Some participants also completed the Watson-Glaser Critical Thinking Appraisal (WGCTA). In both samples the TST had neither sufficient psychometric properties to assess individual abilities nor sufficient stability reliability. In particular, the analysis subscale of the TST demonstrated exceptional weakness in all administrations. In contrast, the TDI demonstrated very good reliability estimates in all administrations of the test. The data did not conform to the subscale structure during factor analysis. Whereas the TST needs further refinement, the TDI demonstrated sufficient reliability for use in attitudinal research.

The development and testing of a competency-focused psychiatric nursing clinical evaluation instrument.

This article presents the development of a competency-focused psychiatric clinical evaluation instrument for the junior year of a baccalaureate program. Initially, 80 competencies were identified and categorized into six subscales. Competency achievement was measured by the Bondy Criterion Matrix (1983). Pilot setting generated an overall alpha (alpha) of 0.89 with item reliabilities ranging from 0.16 to 0.95. Testing of the revised Psychiatric Nursing Performance Appraisal Instrument (PsychNPAI) with another group of students (N = 51) generated an overall alpha = 0.96. Subscale alphas ranged from 0.82 to 0.92. These clinical subscales correlated significantly with related aspects of the didactic content in the course. The National League for Nursing Psychiatric Achievement Test correlated significantly with the overall course grade but not with PsychNPAI. The faculty and students perceive that the PsychNPAI clarifies expected outcomes and increases confidence in performance appraisal.

Validation of criterion-referenced archery cutting scores.

This study investigated an empirical method for setting optimal cutting scores for a criterion-referenced archery test. The classification-outcome probabilities and approaches to validity suggested by Berk were utilized. Pretest scores were obtained on 35 uninstructed college-age women on six ends (six arrows each) from 20 yards (18.3 m) after an unrecorded warm-up end. Posttest scores were after 15 weeks of instruction. Score distributions were the primary determinant for accurately classifying students as true mastery and true nonmastery. Accuracy is a function of the amount of overlap between distributions. Using the point at which the distributions overlapped, classification accuracy was estimated. Probabilities associated with 80 points were p(TM) + p(TN) = .83 and p(FM) + p(FN) = .14. Scores above and below 80 points had lower probabilities of classification accuracy. Reliability estimated using Kappa was .59. Statistical validity of the cutting score (phi) was .68.

Failure of caffeine to affect metabolism during 60 min submaximal exercise.

Caffeine consumption prior to athletic performance has become commonplace. The usual dosage is approximately 200 mg, a level of caffeine ingestion equivalent to two cups of brewed coffee. This study was designed to examine the effects of a common level of caffeine ingestion, specifically 200 mg, on metabolism during submaximal exercise performance in five males. The subjects performed two 60-min monitored treadmill workouts at 60% maximal heart rate during a 2-week period. The subjects were randomly assigned, double-blind to receive a caffeine or placebo capsule 60 min prior to exercise. Testing was performed in the afternoon following a midnight fast. Venous blood was withdrawn pre-exercise, every 15 min during the workout, and 10 min after recovery. Blood was analysed for free fatty acid, triglycerides, glucose, lactic acid, haemoglobin and haematocrit. The respiratory exchange ratio (R), perceived exertion (RPE) and oxygen uptake were measured every 4 min during exercise. An examination of the data with repeated-measures ANOVA revealed no significant differences between the two groups. Within the limitations of the study, it was concluded that 200 mg caffeine failed to affect metabolism during 60 min submaximal exercise.

Comparison of static balance in trainable mentally handicapped and nonhandicapped children.

While for 31 trainable mentally handicapped children and for 31 nonhandicapped (Mage 91.56 mo.), there were no differences in static balance on left or right legs, total balance time was significantly different between the two groups, confirming prior work which related motor proficiency to intelligence. The normal group showed significant positive correlations among height, weight, age, and measures of static balance but only age was not correlated with balance for the handicapped group.